# Simple question what is a HERF?



## MickeyFinn (Jan 1, 2008)

Probably a silly question but I will ask it, what is a HERF?


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## chippewastud79 (Sep 18, 2007)

A gathering of smokers.


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## MickeyFinn (Jan 1, 2008)

Thanks for the answer.


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## physiognomy (Feb 6, 2007)

There is a sticky hiding in the 'Cigar questions' forum with a helpful list of all the acronyms... Click here p


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## boonedoggle (Jun 23, 2006)

speaking of which, I've noticed CC being used recently to replace the infamous ISOM. Just an observation...


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## MikeyC (Nov 27, 2007)

I know what a HERF is, but does anyone now the origins of the term? I just can't figure out if it's short for something or if it's an acronym or what.


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## chippewastud79 (Sep 18, 2007)

MikeyC said:


> I know what a HERF is, but does anyone now the origins of the term? I just can't figure out if it's short for something or if it's an acronym or what.


Depends on where you look: :ss:tu

Explanation #1:
The term "Herf" used to describe the smoking of a cigar comes from the 1960's in America when many cigar smokers listened to Herf Alpert and the Tijuana Brass while smoking their favorite stogie. The music was latinesque and thus provided an atmosphere of semi-cuban reminiscence. Soon, cigar smokers began to say things like "I was with the Brass last night and the Herf was so good I thought I was in Havana." Thus, we can all thank Herf Alpert for his influence on 'garbonics.

Explanation #2:
The term herf started around 1996 in the cigar news groups that used to be popular at the beginning of the internet boom. The word can be a noun, adjective, verb, prefix, suffix, expletive or an adverb, there is no wrong way to use the term.

Explanation #3:
The un-official word of ASC is Herf. Herf is a unique part of speech. It can be correctly used as a noun, a verb, an adjective, an adverb, an infinitive, a prefix, a suffix and an explicative. 
The arcane word "herf" first entered the ASC lexicon on November 21, 1996, and was quickly elevated to frenetic and common use by ASCers. The Prince of Skeeves exposed ASC to the word herf in a casual posting to the group... however it was ASCers, as a budding collective, who took the word and made it divine. 
Herf is now virulently spreading to worldwide common use as hip cigar parlance.

And comes with some thoughts on how the term spread:
Herf... a word which is now spreading to virtually all corners of the cigar world... thanks to the likes of the many and varied distinguished herfing enthusiasts (herfnicks)... such as: 

the good Dr. Miguelit (used on his many national radio interviews),
Mr. Lew Rothman (used proudly and prominently on JR's Winter catalog issue's front cover),
ASC elder Mr. Bob Curtis (used liberally all over the ICG website),
the Hon. Steven Saka (used strategically at least four times in the course of the 1997 New Hampshire state senatorial debate and once as an invective following the debate's broadcast, which, btw, was televised on CSPAN-3 to over a half-billion viewers worldwide, including the space shuttle mission crew),
Connie Whittager, perky weatherwoman on Montgomery, Alabama's WKKG-TV (used to describe the fog which paralyzed suburban roadways for two straight days in April 1997... in an interview on the Weather Channel, she explained, "...motorists were advised to avoid the western beltway and all lakeside arteries due to a stationary fog bank thicker than a hundred hounddogs herfin' Hondurans in a hayloft", and
by Jorge Jesus Delgado, Jr., now departed, (who ardently pleaded to "herf a cigar" before his execution in the Texas death-house in October 1997)... ...just to mention a few of the notables!
Hope this helps, although I am guessing it just makes it more confusing(atleast it did for me).


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## Slow Triathlete (Jun 14, 2007)

A herf is simply defined as a gathering of smokers. But for those who attend a herf regularly, they realize that it is so much more.


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## [OT] Loki (May 24, 2006)

a herf is a gathering of smokers, which usually turns into a gathering of friends where in stories are told, smokes are shared, :BS run rampant and generally a BBQ breaks out....Most people stress about their first one with new people...what do I bring, am I expected to hand out smokes, ect. Just show up and be yourself....unless your an asshole, then you should probably be someone else...if you have the means to hand out a few smokes, do so, if not don't. Just have a good time


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## icehog3 (Feb 20, 2005)

boonedoggle said:


> speaking of which, I've noticed CC being used recently to replace the infamous ISOM. Just an observation...


Good....ISOM has to be the stupidest acronym ever. :2


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## SmokeyJoe (Oct 3, 2006)

icehog3 said:


> Good....ISOM has to be the stupidest acronym ever. :2


:r I know what you're saying... but I do prefer the acronym ISOM to the euphemism "gerbil." :mn


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## Slow Triathlete (Jun 14, 2007)

[OT] Loki said:


> Just show up and be yourself....unless your an asshole, then you should probably be someone else...


I just spit soda all over my keyboard!!


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## galaga (Sep 18, 2003)

SmokeyJoe said:


> :r I know what you're saying... but I do prefer the acronym ISOM to the euphemism "gerbil." :mn


Where did you get an idea that gerbil was a euphemism for a Cuban cigar? 
They really do trade in Gerbils. Why do you think there are so many itchy butts around here?


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## hollywood (Feb 15, 2005)

[OT] Loki said:


> Just show up and be yourself....unless your an asshole, then you should probably be someone else...


That's why some of us are better actors than others ..... lots of practice!:r


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## icehog3 (Feb 20, 2005)

SmokeyJoe said:


> :r I know what you're saying... but I do prefer the acronym ISOM to the euphemism "gerbil." :mn





galaga said:


> Where did you get an idea that gerbil was a euphemism for a Cuban cigar?
> They really do trade in Gerbils. Why do you think there are so many itchy butts around here?


:r :r

Actually, the more you think about "ISOM", the stupider it is, especially in the context people use it.

If ISOM = Island South of Miami..

And people say "I bought a box of ISOMs today".....that would mean he bought a box of islands. The more I see that acronym, the more I dislike it.


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## pnoon (Jun 8, 2005)

icehog3 said:


> :r :r
> 
> Actually, the more you think about "ISOM", the stupider it is, especially in the context people use it.
> 
> ...


Just don't tell anybody it means Cuban cigars. Sssssshhhhh. It's a secret.


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## Mr.Lordi (May 20, 2007)

galaga said:


> Where did you get an idea that gerbil was a euphemism for a Cuban cigar?
> They really do trade in Gerbils. Why do you think there are so many itchy butts around here?


Poor,poor gerbil 

Anyways, CC prob means something a lil different around the pipe forums when it comes to Tobacco. Could just as well mean Christmas Cheer. lol

Here is a ?, why is it called a Herf as opposed to a gathering? The word "Herf" have any particular meaning?


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## snkbyt (Jun 22, 2006)

when people ask me "herf, whats a herf"............I tell'em 
IT'S THE GATHERING OF CIGAR SMOKERS TO DISCUSS AND SMOKE CIGARS


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## Mr.Lordi (May 20, 2007)

snkbyt said:


> when people ask me "herf, whats a herf"............I tell'em
> IT'S THE GATHERING OF CIGAR SMOKERS TO DISCUSS AND SMOKE CIGARS


I revise that even, to be "A Gathering of Tobacco Smokers/users who come together to discuss tobacco and tobacco products."

Gives it a much broader range.

Still, anyone know why they use "Herf" as a name to call it? It have any meaning at all? What is it's origins. Inquiring minds want to know.


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## chippewastud79 (Sep 18, 2007)

Mr.Lordi said:


> Still, anyone know why they use "Herf" as a name to call it? It have any meaning at all? What is it's origins. Inquiring minds want to know.


Read back a few posts (post #7), I found a couple of options, it seems no one really knows for sure. :tu


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## NCRadioMan (Feb 28, 2005)

Mr.Lordi said:


> Still, anyone know why they use "Herf" as a name to call it? It have any meaning at all? What is it's origins. Inquiring minds want to know.


http://www.clubstogie.com/vb/showthread.php?t=9864


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## Mr.Lordi (May 20, 2007)

chippewastud79 said:


> Read back a few posts (post #7), I found a couple of options, it seems no one really knows for sure. :tu


Wow, I feel dumb for totally bypassing that post and not seeing it. :hn lol

Thanks to you for pointing that out and to Radioman for the link. :tu


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## DonWeb (Jul 3, 2005)

I remember reading the source somewhere... but since I couldn't find it - here's what I did find.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Subject: Re: HERF -- The true origin
Date: 2001-04-11 21:06:04 PST

...it came into use for cigars in ASC. It originated as a spelling error. Some guy whose name is lost to history wrote a post about sheep herding. He accidentally typed a line about "herfing sheep." I replied that sheep were hard to keep lit (somethong to do with moisture content) and that herfing cigars was a lot easier.


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## Mr.Lordi (May 20, 2007)

DonWeb said:


> I remember reading the source somewhere... but since I couldn't find it - here's what I did find.
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
> Subject: Re: HERF -- The true origin
> ...


Yep, I found that site as well. It didn't seem of much credence though, given that each person had a variation of the story and one guy even claimed it was his idea, stolen by the "prince' guy. lol


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## Sawyer (Jul 11, 2007)

galaga said:


> Where did you get an idea that gerbil was a euphemism for a Cuban cigar?
> They really do trade in Gerbils. Why do you think there are so many itchy butts around here?


I gotta call fake on this one. It looks like a hamster to me.


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## smokinmojo (Jan 24, 2005)

What next? Pipers everywhere jamming butts in their favorite cob, looking for a memorable smoke that smacks of poo?

:r


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